Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the director of marketing and communications for Waterways Ireland was appointed under current Northern Ireland legislation.

Baroness Amos: The appointment to this post would have been subject to the law of Northern Ireland.

Malawi: Budget Support

Baroness Stern: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What budgetary support the Department for International Development is now providing to the government of Malawi; and whether budgetary support has been given to reforming the police force in Malawi under the safety, security and access to justice programme.

Baroness Amos: DfID is providing £15 million of budget support in the financial year 2004-05 for the Malawi Government's programme of macro-economic stabilization. That aid is not earmarked for particular sectors, such as the police. The Malawi safety, security and access to justice programme also does not provide budgetary support. However, DfID has provided £4 million of other financial aid for police reform since 2001.

Malawi: Budget Support

Baroness Stern: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In light of reports of the shootings of Epiphania Bonjesi, Dadly Lupesya and Nashaz Sakala in Malawi, what consideration has been given to suspending direct budget support until reassurances have been given that all cases of alleged shootings of unarmed civilians will be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.

Baroness Amos: The shootings of Dadly Lupesya and Nashaz Sakala took place in 2001 during rioting over the re-allocation of funding for road building and that of Epiphania Bonjesi in May 2004 during rioting at the time of elections in May 2004. Following the election, the Minister of Home Affairs confirmed to DfID that it was the government of Malawi's intention to inquire into the shootings in May 2004. He has since advised that investigations are on-going. The Malawi Government have no plans to reopen inquiries into the earlier shootings at present.

Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the budgetary and staff implications of the Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation (Legal Capacities) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/3332); and within which departmental budget such costs fall.

Baroness Amos: The Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation (Legal Capacities) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/3332) ratifies the agreement signed in Geneva on 9 December 2002, to establish the Agency for International Trade Information and Co-operation (AITIC) as an intergovernmental organisation. Seven donor (sponsor) countries and 37 beneficiary countries have signed the agreement so far. All seven sponsoring members (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) have pledged funding towards AITIC's first five years of operation as an intergovernmental organisation. This is laid down in Annexe I to the agreement.
	The UK has pledged £1 million to be disbursed as three annual payments. The Department for International Development (DfID) has overall responsibility for the agreement and for implementing its provisions in the UK. UK contributions will therefore be paid through DfID funds.
	The UK will participate actively in the Council of Representatives (the governing body of AITIC), which meets at least once a year. DfID's aim is to ensure that the AITIC follows best management practice in its operations and meets the needs of its clients effectively. Existing DfID staff will undertake this work as part of their normal duties. No additional staff will be required.

Control Orders

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the statement by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 1 March (Official Report, col. 121), whether the right of appeal relating to non-derogating control orders is intended to enable the court to determine that the control order should not have been made because it was not necessary for purposes connected with the protection of members of the public from the risk of terrorism.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, the Secretary of State may apply to the court for permission to make a non-derogating control order. The function of the court is to consider whether the Secretary of State's grounds for making an order are obviously flawed. If the court gives permission to the Secretary of State to make the order, the court will give directions for a hearing in relation to the order as soon as reasonably possible after it has been made. At both the consideration of permission and the substantive hearing, the court will consider the question of whether the control order is necessary for purposes connected with protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism.

European Convention on Human Rights: Articles 8 to 11

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the statement by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 1 March (Official Report, col. 121), which decided case establishes that the concept of proportionality is "at the very core of the concept of judicial review", other than cases involving alleged breaches of European Community law or European Convention on Human Rights law.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The Lord Chancellor's statement concerned the approach to be taken in cases involving Articles 8 to 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is well-established that, in assessing whether any interference with those rights is justified, the courts must consider whether the interference is justified by legitimate aim, and whether it is proportionate. The Lord Chancellor's statement was not concerned with the more general development of judicial review, which is a matter for the courts.

Anti-terrorism Legislation

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they plan to organise an ad hoc conference of senior judges to discuss alternatives to the existing anti-terrorism legislation.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: No.

Iraq: Legal Advice

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the start and termination dates of the periods since 1 January 2003 for which Christopher Greenwood QC was hired to give advice on (a) the legality of military action in Iraq, and (b) other matters; and what sums he has been paid in respect of each matter.

Lord Goldsmith: In relation to Iraq, Professor Christopher Greenwood QC was first instructed on 13 March 2003. He was retained to assist in relation to legal issues arising from the Iraq conflict, but was not instructed to advise on whether military action would be lawful.
	It is not possible to give a date when Professor Greenwood ended his assistance in relation to this issue. He has been instructed on a number of occasions by government departments in relation to a variety of different legal issues relating to the conflict and its aftermath and is currently acting in the case of R (on the application of Al-Skeini and others) v the Secretary of State for Defence concerning civilian deaths in Iraq, which has now reached the Court of Appeal.
	Over the same period, Professor Greenwood was instructed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the Cabinet Office in relation to a number of other legal issues not connected to the Iraq conflict. Details of the issues on which Professor Greenwood has been instructed to provide legal advice are withheld on the grounds that this would disclose information related to the formation of government policy. Professor Greenwood has, however, acted for the Government in relation to a number of cases in the domestic and international courts during this period: the Ojdanic case in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v United Kingdom in the International Court of Justice; the General Assembly request to the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the Palestinian wall (UK observations on admissibility); R (on the application of the European Roma Rights Centre and others) v Immigration Officer at Prague Airport and others; and R (on the application of Abbasi and Mubanga) v the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others. Professor Greenwood also acted in relation to the individual SIAC appeals and the SIAC derogation appeal before the Court of Appeal and House of Lords, although he did not appear in court in these cases.
	Information about Professor Greenwood's professional fees is not held centrally as he has been instructed by several different government departments. While every effort has been made to provide full and complete information, records do not exist to verify precisely what fees have been charged on all matters going back to January 2003. The best information that can be obtained is that, as at 21 March 2005, his professional fees in relation to work connected with the conflict in Iraq amounted to approximately £46,000 (excluding VAT). As at the same date, his fees in relation to other matters amounted to approximately £53,500 (excluding VAT).

Anti-terrorism: Warrants to Search Premises

Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 8 February (WA 103), whether they will now collate from the 43 police forces in England and Wales the information on the number of houses that have been raided by police on anti-terrorism warrants since 11th September 2001.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: This information is not collected for terrorism or other legislation centrally, either in the Home Office or elsewhere, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Asylum Seekers: Allegations of Racism

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to allegations of racism and violence against detainees within the asylum system, in particular in contracted-out detention centres and removal arrangements.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality has asked Stephen Shaw, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, to undertake an independent investigation into the allegations of racism and mistreatment of detainees at Oakington and during escort. GSL, which manages and operate the centre at Oakington, has also mounted an internal investigation into these allegations.

Turkey: Human Rights

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they propose to make on the cases of the Turkish parliamentarians, Merve Kavakc"i and Leyla Zana and others, which were initially considered by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1994 and 2001 respectively, in the light of Turkey's commitment to the Copenhagen principles.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Government continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey closely. Officials at our embassy in Ankara attend trials and raise specific cases with the Turkish authorities when appropriate. We raised the case of Leyla Zana and her three MP colleagues, Selim Sadak, Hatip Dicle and Orhan Dogan frequently prior to the Court of Cassation's decision to order a second retrial; a decision that the UK Government welcomed, and the European Commission noted as evidence that "the higher courts are delivering judgments applying the amended provisions adopted by the various packages of political reforms." The retrial is continuing, with the next hearing expected to take place on 22 April. We will not make further representations during the trial. Merve Kavakc"i is now living in the United States as a citizen of the United States.
	The December European Council endorsed the European Commission's view that Turkey had sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria and that accession negotiations be opened. It will be important, however, that Turkey continues to make progress against the Copenhagen criteria. We will continue to urge the Turkish Government to ensure the full and consistent implementation of the reforms passed, but are confident that all remaining concerns will be addressed during the accession process.

Diplomatic Missions

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are content for a person accredited to a national diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom to hold the citizenship of a country other than that of the mission concerned; if so, whether such persons are also required to hold the citizenship of the country from which they are accredited; and whether they will list those national diplomatic missions where they believe any of those accredited hold citizenship of countries other than that of the mission.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 provides that a country may freely appoint its own nationals as members of the diplomatic staff of its diplomatic mission. However, the consent of the receiving state is required where a person is a national of the country he is appointed to represent and also a national of the receiving country or is a national only of the receiving state. Whether or not a person holds the citizenship of a third country is not relevant to his or her acceptance as a member of a mission. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office would not consider British nationality a bar to the appointment of a person to the diplomatic mission of a country of which they are also nationals. As indicated in my reply to the noble Lord on 10 January 2005 (Official Report, col. WA 3–WA 4), we estimate that fewer than 10 members of diplomatic missions in London hold British citizenship, but that accurate details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 also provides that receiving states may reserve the right to consent to the appointment of a third country national, who is not also a national of the sending country, to the diplomatic staff of a mission. Any such request would be considered on its merits. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not aware of any current appointments that would fall into this category.
	The appointment of other categories of staff (administrative and technical and service) at diplomatic missions is not subject to any nationality considerations.

Defence Procurement: EU Standards

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they expect to adopt European Union standards for defence procurement.

Lord Bach: There is no process or plan formally to adopt European Union standards for defence procurement. The use of standards in the United Kingdom is normally on a voluntary basis so the Ministry of Defence does not specifically "adopt" standards. Instead, it seeks to ensure that its project managers select the most appropriate standard to meet their requirements from the full range of civil, commercial and military standards in accordance with an order of preference or hierarchy. This hierarchy gives preference to a British standards implementation of a European standard.

Defence Procurement: EU Standards

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they plan to replace their existing defence procurement standards with harmonised European Union standards.

Lord Bach: The Ministry of Defence seeks to ensure that its project managers select the most appropriate standard to meet their requirements from the full range of civil, commercial and military standards in accordance with an order of preference or hierarchy. This hierarchy places a British standards implementation of a European standard at the top. Hence existing European standards that have been implemented by British standards should be used in preference to UK defence standards, if they meet our requirements. A number of defence standards have already been cancelled as a result of such implementations. Should new European standards be implemented that meet UK requirements currently addressed by a defence standard, then that defence standard would be cancelled.

Information Commissioner

Lord Lea of Crondall: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to evaluate the effectiveness of the Information Commissioner in:
	(a) ensuring that marketing companies, when notified of telephone numbers that are registered as not wishing to receive cold calls, comply with the relevant order; and
	(b) giving clear details of a one-stop shop for complaints, so that infringements of such orders can be investigated.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Information Commissioner is a statutory supervisory authority, fully independent of government, established to oversee the operation of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. Consequently, he has responsibility for enforcing the statutory regime, including compliance by marketing companies and dealing with complaints. The commissioner is required to lay an annual report before Parliament on the exercise of his functions under the legislation for which he has enforcement responsibility.
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs has a limited sponsorship role in relation to the Information Commissioner's Office, covering financial and business planning matters. Ministers from the department meet with the Information Commissioner on a regular basis to discuss particular issues of concern with regard to both freedom of information and data protection policy matters.

British Film Industry

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the contribution of the British film industry to United Kingdom exports in (a) 2003, and (b) 2004.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Office for National Statistics, in its publication International Service Transactions of the Film and Television Industries, 2003, estimates that exports of services by UK film companies were £657 million in 2002 and £633 million in 2003. Figures for 2004 are due to be published in October 2005.

Museums: Admission Charges

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which publicly-funded English museums retain an entrance fee for the public.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government sponsor a small number of museums and galleries, mainly nationals, the majority of which now offer free admission to their permanent collections.
	Of those sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, three entirely self-funding branches of the Imperial War Museum: Duxford, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and HMS Belfast, retain an admission charge for adults (£12, £10 and £7 respectively). Tate St Ives (which provides temporary exhibitions only) charges adults £5.50. In all cases, concessionary rates and reduced rates for adult groups are also available.
	Of the museums sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport; the Royal Marines Museum, Eastney; and the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton; charge adults £4.50, £4.50, £4.75 and £9.50 respectively. As with those four DCMS-sponsored museum branches which still charge, concessionary rates and reduced rates for adult groups are available.
	We do not hold information on admission charges to museums other than those sponsored directly by government.

Child Trust Fund: Eligibility

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will review the provision for those individuals, the so-called "missing millions", who were born before 1 September 2002 and therefore do not qualify for a child trust fund.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The child trust fund goes live on 6 April 2005. The Government have already backdated eligibility to September 2002. Older children can benefit from tax-free saving too. The market offers a wide range of savings and investment accounts designed especially for children from national savings and investment products to friendly societies, banks and building societies. The Government will continue to monitor the situation and would be happy to speak to providers on the issue.
	Every child has a personal tax allowance of £4,745 a year and parents are taxed on their child's account only when the gift produces more than £100 gross income per year, per parent.
	Parents can also save without having to pay tax through ISAs and in the Budget, the Chancellor announced that he would be extending the existing higher ISA limits of £7,000 with a maximum of £3,000 in cash through to 2010, providing parents with an opportunity to save for their children's future.
	The child trust fund offers new opportunities and new incentives that never existed before. In conjunction with other saving products offered by the market it will help to encourage saving for all children. The Government keep all saving incentives under review.

Wheels to Work Schemes

Lord Cameron of Dillington: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any incentive is given to Jobcentre Plus managers to take account of the wider net savings to the taxpayer from sponsoring Wheels to Work schemes; and
	Whether a grant of £31,000 per annum to the Wheels to Work scheme on the Isle of Wight to keep 51 people in work, at a cost of £11.69 per head, per week, represents value for money; and
	Whether the Wheels to Work scheme on the Isle of Wight and other such schemes are being discontinued through a lack of support; and whether they will encourage such schemes.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: No specific incentive is given to Jobcentre Plus managers but, depending on local circumstances, they may offer support to a specific Wheels to Work scheme. They will continue to do this where it represents the best way of meeting the needs of an individual client or group of clients and is value for money.
	These conditions have been met in the case of the scheme on the Isle of Wight and Jobcentre Plus shortly expects to sign a contract to provide funding of over £34,000 to the Wheels to Work scheme there to support 51 customers to access employment during 2005–06.

Learning Difficulties and Offending Behaviour

Baroness Goudie: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What research has been undertaken to evaluate the link between learning difficulties and crime, and the potential for reducing re-offending by breakthroughs in research in non-drug alternatives for the treatment of those suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Lord Warner: There is no evidence of a direct causal link between learning difficulties and offending behaviour. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is not itself a learning difficulty and, with appropriate treatment, children can make good progress in their educational environment. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has published advice in 2000 on the use of methylphenidate and will publish further advice on the effectiveness of other interventions for treating ADHD in 2008.

Hepatitis C and HIV Inadvertent Blood Infection

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is in keeping with natural justice to provide financial support for widows of haemophilia patients who died from HIV infection by contaminated National Health Service blood products, but not for those widowed in consequence of hepatitis C infection from the same source and by the same route.

Lord Warner: I refer the noble Lord to the reply we gave on 23 February 2005, (Official Report, col. WA 214).

Hospitals: Outpatient Appointments

Lord McColl of Dulwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How they consider that the target of people not having to wait longer than 13 weeks for an outpatient appointment by the end of December 2005 will be reached for those requiring indoor/outdoor electric wheelchairs and specialised wheelchair seats.

Lord Warner: The target is for a maximum 13 week wait for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant following general practitioner referral by the end of 2005.
	It is for the National Health Service locally to ensure that access to such equipment is provided in a timely manner to meet the needs of their local population.

Varicose Veins

Lord McColl of Dulwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What, in the most recent period for which statistics are available, are (a) the mortality; and (b) the morbidity attributable to the treatment of varicose veins by surgery; and whether such statistics provide a comparison between the results of surgery and of treatment by means of ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health does not hold information on mortality or morbidity rates attributable to the treatment of varicose veins by surgery. Of 41,608 discharges from National Health Service hospitals in 2003-04 following varicose vein surgery, there was one who died in hospital. As in the case of mortality rates within 30 days of surgery, which are available for some higher risk treatments such as heart surgery, the mortality may not be directly attributable to the surgery. Information on cause of death (available from deaths registered with the Office for National Statistics) does not specify which are attributable to specific medical treatments. There are no centrally collected data on the comparative results of different treatments.

Agriculture: Pest Bird Control

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What alterations they have made to the rules for legally controlling pest birds for agricultural and other purposes under the amendments for general licences 2005; under what powers the new conditions on licences were brought in; and what the purpose of the changes to the conditions is.

Lord Whitty: General licences are issued by Defra under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended. This complies with Article 9 of the 1979 Birds Directive. Such licences may be subject to compliance with any specified conditions and may be modified or revoked at any time by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as the appropriate authority (Section 16(5) of the Act refers).
	A number of changes, announced on 10 February, were made to general licences from 1 March 2005. Full details can be found at www.defra. gov.uk/wildlife–countryside/vertebrates/licences/generallicencesamend2005.pdf.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: Licences

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the changes to the general licences issued under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 were made; when these changes were first (a) made known to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) press office; (b) posted on the Defra website; and (c) made public.

Lord Whitty: The latest revisions to general licences were made on the 9 March 2005. These changes were (a) made known to the Defra press office; (b) posted on the Defra website; and (c) made public via a press release, all on that same day.

Shooting Licence WLF 18: Consultation

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether those consultations which they carried out prior to the introduction of general shooting licence WLF 18 complied with the Code of Practice on Consultations.

Lord Whitty: In April 2004 a consultation document on the review of general licences was sent to 92 stakeholder groups. This documentation was also published on the Defra website. The 12 week written consultation period concluded on 14 July 2004. Further extensions to the closing date were given to particular organisations where they requested more time to prepare their responses. The timescale for responses was therefore well in excess of the required 12 weeks and involved a wide range of interests.
	Defra officials carefully and open-mindedly analysed all 218 responses received. In addition, they pro-actively held discussions with organisations representing conservation and shooting interests. The validity period of the old general licences was specifically extended from 31 December 2004 to 28 February 2005 to allow such analysis and discussions to take place.
	It was not possible for Defra officials fully to prepare and publish a summary of responses within the recommended three month period. Priority was given to analysing responses and revising general licences before the old licences expired on 28 February 2005. Officials are now in the process of preparing a summary document for publication.

Beaches: SSSI Status

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many English beaches are listed as sites of special scientific interest.

Lord Whitty: English Nature maintains data on sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in England. It is able to analyse these data in a variety of ways such as according to habitat type, location or condition, or cross reference it with other data sets. There is, however, no standard definition of a beach or a definitive list of all beaches in England. Therefore, no comprehensive data are currently available on English beaches with which to cross reference the data on SSSIs. Some 362 SSSIs have part of their area between mean high water and mean low water marks. The total area of these 362 sites is 355,000 hectares and will include large muddy inter-tidal areas such as the Wash and Morecambe Bay, as well as sandy or shingle areas known as beaches. Using data from the Environment Agency, 302 of the designated coastal EU bathing waters are found within 210 SSSIs in England.

Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many farms are currently subject to a standstill order under the restrictions on animal movements that came into force on 17 February; how many of these are due to a breakdown of communications between the Government and local veterinary inspectorates (LVI); how many are due to lack of LVI manpower, equipment or financial resources; and how many are due to a lack of communication or co-operation between LVIs and farmers.

Lord Whitty: On 14 March 2005, 2,645 herds were under restriction because of the new zero tolerance policy on overdue bovine TB tests.
	Every effort has been made to ensure clear communication of the policy between the State Veterinary Service (SVS), farmers and local veterinary inspectors (LVI). This has included:
	sending LVIs advance copies of the farmers' guidance booklet TB in Cattle—changes to testing and controls in early October 2004 and sending the final booklet to all registered herd owners in late October;
	Defra issuing press notices highlighting the introduction of the new policy in November 2004 and February 2005; and
	the SVS writing to LVIs in early February reminding them of the introduction of the policy.
	Sufficient financial resources and equipment are available to carry out all anticipated TB testing. The SVS is conducting an exercise to assess shortfalls in LVI resources on a divisional basis and recruiting casual veterinary officers to cover any shortfall.
	We do not hold information on the extent to which communication difficulties between LVIs and farmers may have delayed TB testing.

Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the estimated cost per badger, based upon the estimated badger population in the south west and midland regions of England, of (a) providing manpower and resources for testing cattle for bovine tuberculosis; (b) the slaughter of affected cattle; (c) compensation of farmers for slaughtered livestock; and (d) damage to crops and the environment.

Lord Whitty: It is not possible to provide a meaningful figure for the estimated breakdown of costs per badger by the suggested categories of bovine TB expenditure or agricultural damage. However, the following information is available.
	In 2003-04 the overall cost of bovine TB testing in Great Britain was £33.2 million and compensation (including salvage, valuation and haulage) was £34.4 million.
	The annual mean cost of badger damage to agriculture in England and Wales was estimated to be £21.5 million to 41.5 million 1 by a survey in 1999.
	The badger population for Great Britain as a whole in the mid-1990s was in the region of 300,000-400,000 2 . However, the badger population in the south-west and midland regions of England is not known.
	Notes: 1 The researchers concluded that "Assuming that the questionnaires returned were a random subset of those distributed, the mean estimated national cost was £41.5 million per annum (62 per cent of which was due to burrowing activity). Assuming that all the non-respondents had no damage, the estimate was £21.5 million per annum."
	Source: Moore et al., 1999, Survey of badger (Meles meles) damage to agriculture in England and Wales, Journal of Applied Ecology 36, 974-988. 2 Source: Wilson, Harris & McLaren, 1997, The National Badger Survey

Sheep Dips: Organophosphates

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many sheep farmers currently hold certificates of competence for sheep dipping; and how many of these farmers are known to use organophosphate sheep dips.

Lord Whitty: Some 17,997 Certificates of Competence in the Safe Use of Sheep Dips have been issued up to 28 February 2005.
	We do not keep records of the number of farmers who are known to use organophosphate sheep dips.

Sheep Dips: Organophosphates

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they regard research findings which describe the long-term effects upon human health of exposure to organophosphate sheep dips as "subtle" as meaning that they are not of any consequence.

Lord Whitty: The Government do not regard subtle effects upon human health after organophosphate exposure as being necessarily inconsequential.
	The significance of the effects would be considered in the light of the whole of the study itself, in the context of other research findings. In reaching a conclusion, government would seek advice from expert advisory committees, including the medical and scientific panel of the veterinary products committee. The Government may also ask this panel whether further work would clarify the significance of any effects found.

Avian Flu: Importation of Bird Feathers

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will ban the import of bird feathers from China and other far eastern countries which report avian influenza in their poultry or wildlife.

Lord Whitty: On 29 January 2004 the European Community banned unprocessed feathers from China and restrictions have been extended to other countries as they reported the disease.
	Processed feathers may be imported provided they are cleaned with a steam current and heated to at least 70 degrees. This is considered effective in significantly reducing the quantity of virus, if present, to a negligible level.
	All processed feathers are presented for veterinary inspection upon import where a documentary, identity and sensory check are done.
	Although there is not a ban in place Defra maintains that sufficient controls are in place to prevent any serious risk from imported feathers from affected areas.

Single Farm Payment Scheme

Lord Dixon-Smith: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the change to the single farm payment system to support agriculture alters in any way the ability of voluntary motor sports organisations to hold events on land for up to 14 days in any one year provided they have the agreement of the landowner.

Lord Whitty: Farmers who wish to claim payment under the single payment scheme will, among other things, need to have the required number of hectares of eligible agricultural land for a nominated 10-month period and keep all the agricultural land on their holding in good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC).
	Eligible hectares are defined in EU regulations as excluding land on which non-agricultural activities take place. Defra will issue further guidance on how this requirement will be implemented shortly. But, in any event, it remains open for farmers to host motor sport events outside their nominated 10-month period provided that they comply with GAEC requirements.

Working Time Directive

Earl Attlee: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the regulations to implement the Working Time Directive for mobile workers have been laid before Parliament; and, if so, when; and
	When the regulations to implement the Working Time Directive for mobile workers will come into effect.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The regulations to implement Council Directive 2002/15/EC (concerning the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities) were laid before Parliament on 14 March and are due to come into force with effect from 4 April 2005.

Lord Birt

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations or advice the Prime Minister's strategy adviser, the Lord Birt, has raised with any Minister or official on behalf of McKinsey and Company Incorporated.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: None.